dharma
The
Hindu, Jain,
Buddhist and Sikh
Traditions of India
Edited by
VEENA R. HOWARD
Pao awe. a Bs)
[rompon new roan)Hindu Dharma: Unity in Diversity—
A Pluralistic Tradition
Jeffery D. Long!
‘One who protects Dharma is protected by Dharma.
— Manusmriti”
What is Hindu Dharma? An Overview
Hindu Dharma—more widely known in the Western world as
Hinduism—is an ancient set of beliefs and practices that encompasses
a vast range of human values and experiences. Emerging from the
diverse cultures of the Indian subcontinent, Hindu Dharma responds
to some of the most profound questions raised by human beings: Who
am I? What is the purpose of my life? What is happiness, and how can
it be achieved?
Unlike religious traditions familiar to most Western readers, Hindu
Dharma has no founder, no essential dogma, and no single,
centralized institutional authority dictating the beliefs of Hindus.
An enormous range of belief systems and conceptions of reality thrive
under the capacious umbrella of Hindu Dharma. There are Hindu
monotheists, polytheists, atheists, and other variations. There are
Hindus whose main occupation is performing rituals aimed at
upholding the welfare of the world, and ones whose spiritual lives are
interwoven with the day-to-day work of providing for their families
and fulfilling their social responsibilities. Some Hindus channel all
their energy towards meditative practices aimed at the realization of a
HINDU DHARMA 39
divine reality dwelling in the hearts of all beings. All of these ways of
life, and more, are seen as being equally Hindu and are accepted as
such. There is no single, correct way to be a Hindu. If one is trying to
define Hindu Dharma, a good starting place might be to say that this
tradition is defined by its pluralism, the rich variety of paths and
viewpoints it accommodates and embraces. This pluralism is affirmed
in the most ancient of Hindu sacred texts—the Rig Veda—which
states: “Truth is one; the wise speak of it in many ways.”*
Hindu Dharma is such an internally diverse tradition that it is likely
that every statement made in this essay will be met with disagreement
by groups of Hindus, who will find that a particular statement does not
represent practice or worldview accurately. In the words of John Cort,
describing Indian culture in general, “Anyone who has ever taught
about India knows that for every true statement about India there is an
opposite, contradictory, yet equally true statement.”*
Even the claim that Hindu Dharma is highly diverse can be met
with the objection that it is deceptive if taken to mean that there is no
underlying unity or cohesion at all to Hindu thought or practice.
Indeed, some scholars might say, ‘Hinduism’ does not exist.” Many
Hindus, of course, find this claim offensive, and with good reason.
While Hindu Dharma is, indeed, internally highly diverse, there are
also areas of agreement in this tradition. What might be called a
“Hindu mainstream” has emerged over time, and elements of this
mainstream Hinduism can be traced far into the past. Intriguingly,
other ancient and widespread traditions—such as Buddhism, Chris-
tianity, and Islam—are also internally diverse, yet one does not find
the existence or integrity of these traditions widely questioned.° There
is a unity underlying Hindu diversity, and Hindu pluralism should not
be taken to mean that “anything goes” in Hinduism. One should pay
attention to both sides of the Rig Veda’s ancient equation: “Truth is
one” and “The wise speak of it in many ways.”
This unity-in-diversity is reflected in the vast range of practices and
beliefs observed by close to one billion people who follow Hindu
Dharma in one form or another. Though it is a global community,
it is concentrated heavily in one country: India. Hindus outside
India are mostly persons of Indian origin or descent; but there is a
growing number of Hindu adherents from many ethnic and national
backgrounds: African Hindus, East Asian Hindus, European Hindus,
Latino Hindus, and so on. Hindu Dharma has the third-largest40 DHARMA
following compared to other major world religions, with Christianity
and Islam as first and second, respectively. It is the largest of the four
Dharma traditions (Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, and Sikh), and its various
elements—from the concepts of sacred duty (dharma) and action
(karma) to the spiritual paths (yoga)—have been guiding principles for
its diverse adherents.
Unifying Elements: Dharma, Karma, Samsara,
Moksha, Purushartha, and Yoga
In this section, we will provide an overview of the essential elements
of Hindu Dharma. Indeed, these elements are interpreted differently
by scholars and followers, and they continue to evolve in their
meaning with the changing times.
Karma, Dharma, Fate, and Free Will
One teaching that commands nearly universal acceptance among
Hindus is that one’s personal actions and intentions matter in a
radical way. Specifically, many Hindus believe that for every thought,
word, and deed there is a corresponding reaction. Good actions—
actions performed out of compassion, a sense of responsibility, or
duty (“duty” being the most commonly used translation of the term
dharma)—produce good effects for the one who performs them. These
effects could be seen as a reward, although in most cases it would be a
mistake to think of them as gifts granted by God for good behavior.
It is more like a law of nature, akin to gravity. Good attracts good.
Similarly, bad actions—actions performed out of selfishness or
cruelty, without concern for the happiness or well-being of others—
produce bad effects. This, again, could be seen as punishment.
But this is not punishment meted out arbitrarily by an angry or a
whimsical deity. It is simply the way the cosmos works.’ This is the
idea of karma: a universal law of action and reaction. As we shall see,
it is a concept with many profound implications.
One of these implications is that the cosmos is not a random,
chaotic place. It is an orderly system. A universal law, like karma,
implies a lawful cosmos where events do not occur by sheer accident.
The deepest meaning of dharma—one of the many meanings of this
term—is “cosmic order,” or the lawful nature of existence. Karma can
be seen as an effect or manifestation of dharma. It is the primary means
HINDU DHARMA 4}
by which the order of the cosmos becomes evident in our lives. Our
duties (the choices that ensure the best karmic outcomes) make up our
personal dharma: a way of living that ensures a maximum degree of
harmony between human beings and the deepest order of existence.
Another implication of karma is that, though co cpsmips is
orderly, living beings do have free will. The cosmic reality is ordered,
put it is not absolutely fixed. The idea of karma, at least in most
formulations, presupposes an agent of action, who is able to choose
one option over others. Our fate (niyati) is not entirely predeter-
mined. This view is contrary to a popular understanding that deems
karma as fatalistic. At the same time, karma does imply some thease
of predetermination. At any given moment, bind options from which
we are free to choose make up a limited, finite set. Our freedom is
not infinite—it is limited by our own past choices. Actions have
inevitable effects, and logically our current set of limited options is an
effect of choices we have made in the past. We have created our own.
limitations and conditions that circumscribe our freedom. ;
Conversely, the limited, but nevertheless real, freedom we exercise
in the present will shape the set of choices available in the future. The
future is created with the choices made in the present, as the present
situation was created by past choices. If, for example, I ea walked
into my house, the next choice I make must be made from inside it.
I cannot climb Mount Everest from inside my house, at least ia
literally. I must choose to leave my house to make that option
available. Freely choosing means navigating the effects of past
choices, Infinite freedom would thus mean freedom from the past—
freedom from karma. The idea of karma is thus a kind of middle way
between the ideals of absolute freedom and absolute predetermina-
tion often debated by philosophers. ,
This idea of karma also plays a major role in Hindu understandings
of personhood and moral responsibility. If we have played some
part, through our past choices, in the creation of our present
circumstances, we cannot blame any divine higher power for our
sufferings in this world (though there is also a concept of fate (niyati)
which plays a prominent role in some Hindu texts and sail be seen as
referring to the fixed nature of actions already performed in the past).
Karma is an empowering concept, for if our choices have led to our
current situation, this means we have the power to shape our future
with the choices that we make here and now. In the words of a